News

09/30/2011 7:05 PM - Milwaukee, Wis.- The Rockford IceHogs got off to an early lead but the Milwaukee Admirals rattled off four goals in the second period and it was too much for the IceHogs to overcome in their second preseason game on Friday night at the Kern Center in Milwaukee.

The IceHogs got on the board first at 7:09 in the opening period. David Toews drove to the Milwaukee net and dished the puck to Brandon Bollig and he hammered it to the back of the net to give Rockford a 1-0 lead.

With the first period winding down, Milwaukee evened the score to 1-1. Chris Cahill sent the puck in on net and Ryan Flynn was there to finish it off at 16:21 in the first.

The Admirals got things going in the middle frame with four tallies from four different skaters. First, Juuso Puustinen and Jani Lajunen set up Joel Champagne to slip the puck past Alec Richards to make it 2-1.

Then, after a Simon Danis-Pepin tripping penalty, Milwaukee extended their lead to 3-1 on the power play. Richards knocked down a David Leaderer shot but Lajunen was there to clean up the rebound. Carter Hutton came in to replace Richards.

Just over two minutes later, the IceHogs responded to cut the lead to 3-2. Brian Connelly sent the puck up to Jimmy Hayes on a breakaway and the big forward made a nifty move and flipped it past Jeremy Smith.

The Admirals continued their offensive assualt and tacked on two more goals to closeout the middle frame. Taylor Aronson knocked in a rebound from Aaron Marvin's shot at 15:55. Then, Hutton couldn't fall on a loose puck in front of the IceHogs net and Mark Van Guilder tapped it in at 18:17 to put the score at 5-2.

Shawn Lalonde ripped a shot past Smith from the left faceoff circle to start the third period and bring Rockford within a pair of goals but the Admirals held the IceHogs off the board the rest of the way to take the game 5-3.

Richards took the loss for Rockford, stopping 12 of the 15 shots he faced. Hutton came in and made 11 saves on 13 shots. Smith got the win for Milwaukee, turning away 22 Rockford chances.

Rockford completes their preseason schedule Saturday night when they host the Peoria Rivermen at the BMO Harris Bank Center at 7:05 p.m.

Next Home Game: Saturday, Oct. 8 vs. Grand Rapids. The IceHogs open the 2011-12 season against the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7:05 p.m. at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Every fan in attendance will get an IceHogs 2011-12 magnet schedule. For tickets call (815) 968-5222 or visit icehogs.com.